Michael Mccoll

I'm a collector. Always have been, probably always will be. Not weird stuff, just good things, and especially football memorabilia. Programmes, stickers, cards, badges, books, magazines, comics and a lot more besides. Anything and everything football related, and if it’s to do with either East Fife or Vancouver Whitecaps then all the better. Looking through some of it the other day prompted me to start another new feature here on AFTN, 'Found In The Attic'. 'Found In The Attic' will look at some of the wonderful pieces of Whitecaps and North American footballing memorabilia and collectibles from both yesteryear and more recent times. We'll kick things off with an item from the days of the old NASL. The old North American Soccer League attracted some big names in the footballing world over it’s history. It also attracted some big name sponsors too, and one of them was Pepsi. Look through any of the old 'Kick' programs from the time and you’ll see some glorious full page ads, full of colour, bad hair and dodgy clothes. Here's one with Bobby Lenarduzzi from back in 1983. As long time supporters of the game in North America, Pepsi took their involvement with the Whitecaps one stage further that year and produced a set of Caps cap liners! It was a neat little twist and a great play on words. If you bought specially marked bottles of Pepsi cola, under the caps were special liners encouraging you to "Catch the wave with Pepsi". There were six to collect in the set, each one embossed with the strangely drawn face of one of the top Whitecaps players of the day. Legends one and all, but a strange mix for the set all the same. There was goalkeeper Tino Lettieri, who played two seasons with the Caps and played for Canada in both the 1986 World Cup and two Olympics. English international central defender Dave Watson only played one season for the Caps and he was lucky enough that it was the one that turned him into a drink liner! Appealing to more of the ex-pats was Irishman Fran O'Brien. Two seasons in Vancouver but ingrained into Whitecaps history thanks to Pepsi. The same fate was bestowed on Dutch midfielder, and Ipswich Town legend, Frans Thijssen. The last two cap liners in the set were thankfully set aside for two of the greatest Whitecaps legends. The ones that are still here today, tying the NASL and MLS Caps together. Ad starlet Bobby Lenarduzzi and Carl Valentine would be the two guys you'd really want to find under your Pepsi cap. I wonder if they got free Pepsi for a year for taking part in the promotion? I wonder if they even remember it! I'll have to find out and feed back. Does anyone reading this remember them? Or have them? There was a set going on ebay recently for $50 which I thought was crazily high. Obviously so did everyone else as they didn't sell! One lucky AFTN reader will be the proud owner of them though, as that's one of the prizes for the winner of our "Last Man Standing" competition. I'm a sucker for these kind of promotional items. They're great to look back on and think about what were very different times in football. It would also be nice if Pepsi or some other drinks company did something similar today for the current crop of Whitecaps. Who wouldn't want to find Joe Cannon under your cap? The Barry Robson ones would be reserved for ginger ale of course.

Callum Irving has been involved with the Whitecaps youth set up since 2007. The 19 year old has improved and developed year on year and earned his first call up to the national team program in 2011. Many consider him to be the best young goalkeeper in the country at his age group and fully expect him to be Canada's number one keeper down the line, hopefully still as a Whitecap. We caught up with Callum just before he headed off to Dallas for a quick chat and started by asking him how he felt about this week's USSDA playoffs: "I'm extremely excited. It's something I've looked forward to the whole year, something we've been working towards, so now that they're finally here, just extremely excited and anxious to get started." The U18s are the top seeds in their group and as the only Divisional winners have the favourites tag. In USSDA though, as is often the case with all playoffs, once the regular season is over and it's all to play for, it's almost a level playing field. The Caps experienced that themselves on Monday, agonisingly losing their first match 3-2 against the eighth place wild card side, and defending Champions, Pateadores. With a lot of unknowns in a playoff week like this, how do the team prepare themselves for the matches? "I think we just need to take every game as it comes. No matter who we're playing, we have a certain way of playing. We don't really worry about how they're going to play as much if we don't know the teams. If it was a first place team, a second place team, fourth place team, we're going to approach it the exact same way." Callum has taken big steps with the Whitecaps this year. As the first choice starting keeper for the U18s he has made 21 appearances this season and kept five clean sheets. He recorded another one in yesterday's 4-0 playoff win over Weston. The last two seasons have seen him as a regular starter with the PDL side and he has been training regularly with the MLS squad both this year and last. How does he feel his play has developed this season training with the first team squad? "I think it's helped me mature a lot in the net. As a goalie, experience is something that's very important, and to learn from somebody like Joe Cannon and Brad Knighton, who are very experienced goalkeepers, helps a lot. So I think every facet of my game has improved a lot." When we spoke to former Whitecaps technical director, Richard Grootscholten, (http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?3215-Richard-Grootscholten-talks-to-AFTN) back in May, he was very complimentary about the attitude of Callum, Bryce Alderson and Caleb Clarke, in coming back to train with the U18s after training with the first team. For a young player like Callum, is it important to not get too ahead of yourself? "Yeah I think so. You always have to try and stay grounded as a player and realise that the only way you're going to be successful is from hard work. So no matter where you're training, what team your playing with, you have to put in the same kind of work you'd put in with a professional team, with the national team, with any team. So I think if you have that kind of work rate you're going to be successful, so that's what I try to focus on." He's certainly not afraid to put in the hard work in training. The day we caught up with him he had just done a two hour training session with the MLS team in the morning, had a ninety minute break, and was all set to put in another two hours with the Residency team. There's commitment to your career. And talking of which, what are Callum's long term goals? "I want to play professional soccer. I would love to play for the Whitecaps, but that's something that would happen in the future, I'm not really looking at that right now. I'm kind of focussing on everything as it comes. My long term goal is to play for the national team and to play professional soccer." His immediate future is going to take him out of the Whitecaps set-up and into pastures new, as he goes to play university football in Kentucky later this year. For someone like myself, who knows nothing about the college soccer scene, why Kentucky? "The school made a good offer for me to come there and put together a good package for me. To be able to play games right away, hopefully, is an important thing as a goalie. They also have some great strength programs and great facilities there so they can help me mature physically. It just seemed like the right fit for me at this point of my career." We're sure it will be and all of us at AFTN wish him all the very best for the next stage of his footballing career. Having seen Callum grow with the Caps over the last three years, it's going be strange not to see him, and others from this year's U18 team, on the pitch in a Whitecaps uniform next season. The Whitecaps coaching staff, past and present, are all very high on Callum as a player and in his abilities to go far in the game. He's definitely one that all Canadian fans should be watching, because it won't be a surprise to those of us here on the west coast when we do see him run out for the national team in a World Cup qualifier one day.

Every few weeks we bring you "MLS Back Catalogue", where AFTN revisits artists' discographies, authors' bibliographies and different genres of music, books, films or whatever, all re-imagined with the current and recent players and managers of Major League Soccer. And all done in a full 'Top of the Pops' style top ten countdown. We always think that life is better when accompanied by song. It works on Broadway, in the West End and on screen. Why talk, when you can sing?! Why sit quietly and watch football, when you can stand and chant?! With this in mind, our MLS Back Catalogue today delves into the world of Musicals.... ************************************ (10) The Wizard of Osvaldo Alonso (9) Nick Labrocca of Ages (8) O'Brian White Christmas (7) Mamdou Mia Danso (6) Ryan Guy and Dolls (5) Jamison Olave Never Dies (4) Aspects of Lovel Palmer (3) The Stephen King and I (2) Shalrie Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (1) Phantom of the Ike Opara Football and musicals certainly seem to be happy bedfellows. Montreal Impact fans even have the perfect musical already written for their inaugural MLS season - "Les Miserables". "The Miserable Ones" indeed!

Every few weeks we bring you "MLS Back Catalogue", where AFTN revisits artists' discographies, authors' bibliographies and different genres, re-imagined with the current and recent players and managers of Major League Soccer. And all done in a full 'Top of the Pops' style top ten countdown. We thought we'd go all literary this week and have our first author's MLS Back Catalogue, today featuring the works of William Shakespeare…. ************************************ (10) A Midsummer Wes Knight's Dream (9) Tyson Wahl's Well That Ends Well (8) Julio Cesar (7) The Aron Winter's Tale (6) Jamison Olave's Labour's Lost (5) Tim Murray Wives Of Windsor (4) Stephen King Lear (3) The Tragedy Of Romeo And Julian De Guzman (2) Corey Ashe You Like It (1) Much Freddy Adu About Nothing

The 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers are all done and dusted. There’s been cheers. There’s been tears. But most importantly, there’s been two berths booked at the Olympics in London this summer and Canada are proudly filling one of them. The tournament has been a huge success, both on and off the pitch. The Canadian women have performed well, given it their all and secured their main task in hand, Olympic qualification. For many here in the west, there’s also been a big story in the stands, as Vancouverites have taken to the team and the tournament, and turned out in numbers at BC Place for the semi-finals and final. The overall attendance for the tournament was over 160,000. The attendance of 25,427 for Sunday’s final set a CONCACAF record for a women’s Olympic qualifying match, beating the previous record set on Friday. Average attendance for the group stage was 8,135, whilst the overall average was close to 15,000. With the tournament needing an average crowd of around 10,000 to break even, it’s a pretty satisfied Canadian Soccer Association and CONCACAF right now. Despite these numbers, and the passion shown in the stands, don’t expect Vancouver to be hosting Canadian Men’s international matches any time soon. The CSA are extremely happy with Vancouver, BC Place and this tournament, that isn’t the issue here: ”The past eleven days have been an incredible success for the sport of soccer and the Canadian Soccer Association, both on and off the pitch,” stated Peter Montopoli, General Secretary of the CSA. ”We could not be more proud of the Women’s National Team and their world class performance that has resulted in their qualification for London 2012. The record crowds and nation-wide attention generated during the tournament is indicative of the country’s passion for the beautiful game.” Passion indeed, and not exactly what the CSA were expecting: ”It has exceeded our expectations, but we’re also not surprised at the support that we received here.” added Montopoli. The hope for Vancouver fans is that the attendances would be enough to attract bigger and better international games to the city, and more frequently. Venues for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup are still being finalised, but the CSA hope to announce what those will be by the summer. Vancouver has long been touted to host the final. FIFA had a delegation on a site inspection of BC Place on Saturday morning and they took in the matches on Friday and Sunday. Edmonton and Montreal have also been part of their visit, but they were reportedly impressed by what they saw in Vancouver. The artificial pitch could still be an issue for getting the final, with the obvious option of bringing in some real grass to also consider. That’s not something we have a good record with in Vancouver mind you. American coach Pia Sundhage wasn’t the greatest fan of the BC Place surface, when asked post game Sunday what she thought of Vancouver as a possible venue for the World Cup Final: ”It’s hard with this turf. It’s beaten them up. There is a reason why some of the players, like Lepeilbet, didn’t play today. We played on the turf, went only one day, then played again. So that’s something that makes it so much harder to play than on natural grass.” The women’s game aside, the big question on the lips of many here this week is would Vancouver be seeing the Canadian Men’s National Team in the city any time soon? Montopoli was cagey, due to his surroundings, but reading between the lines, the answer was very clear: ”We’ll be making some announcements on February 2nd. We have something planned to announce, our future schedule for the mens and womens sides. On the men’s side, if we’re talking World Cup qualification matches, then you have to look at the surface that you’re playing on, you have to take a look at where the players are coming from, and where we’re playing [around the home games]. There’s a number of parameters. I will say that certainly the matches we’ve played in Toronto, there is a bit of a home field advantage. Players are very comfortable playing in that environment and everything that’s around there – the infrastructure, the hotel, accommodation, meals, the transportation. They’re very comfortable in that environment.” Bringing the surface up seems a little strange, as BC Place has a FIFA authorised polytan pitch. When pushed on this, Montopoli at first said ”It has to be grass”, before quickly back-tracking and adding: ”This surface has been very, very good, in terms of the polytan artificial surface for the future. We would need FIFA approval. It would have to continue to be a 2 Star FIFA surface, and again that requires FIFA approval.” We all know this wouldn’t be an issue, so what is really stopping the CSA bringing World Cup qualification games here? ”I think the other part is our coaching staff and players prefer grass. There’s a preference for that. If you look at whoever has grass in our country, it would be BMO Field, Saputo Stadium and Moncton, unless there’s more you can educate us on and we can go and check out.” So all but actually saying that the Men’s team aren’t coming to Vancouver any time soon. Moncton, get your petition started. I can see where the CSA are coming from in some regards. Travelling from Europe to the west coast does add a little inconvenience to the players. Longer journeys both to here and home again, along with the increased time difference. It doesn’t appear to be an issue for the American team of course. The non grass pitch is the other big issue, but one that could be sorted if the will was really there. So Vancouverites shouldn’t be holding their breath to see their men’s national football team in these parts for the foreseeable future. I could certainly see some women’s friendlies building on the success of this tournament. Maybe even the odd U23 men’s game and below. It’s not going to please everyone, but at the end of the day, if the men’s team qualify for the 2014 World Cup and are heading down to Brazil, does it really matter? Or should the CSA be helping to promote and develop the game, and the fanbase, throughout the country by taking both the men’s and the women’s teams to different venues nation-wide? Share your views below.

Football and music have always gone hand in hand with AFTN. We even used to produce a free local music scene pull-out back in our fanzine days. Keeping this bond, every few weeks we bring you "MLS Back Catalogue", where AFTN revisits artists' discographies and writers' bibliographies, re-imagined with the current and recent players of Major League Soccer. And all done in a full 'Top of the Pops' style top ten countdown. Today our MLS Back Catalogue comes from The Smiths…. ************************************ (10) Evan Bush Knows I'm Miserable Now (9) The Boy With Zach Thornton In His Side (8) Last Night I Dreamt That Sammy Ochoa Loved Me (7) Brek Sheakespeare's Sister (6) That Dejan Jakovic Isn't Funny Anymore (5) There Is A Chris Albright That Never Goes Out (4) Sheila Take A Tristen Bowen (3) William Hesmer It Was Really Nothing (2) This Charming Kenny Mansally (1) Hassoun Camara Is Now Any songs that could come into the chart as new entries? Leave your suggestions below.

Football and music have always gone hand in hand with AFTN. We even used to produce a free local music scene pull-out back in our fanzine days. Flicking through some old back issues, and inspired by hearing something similar on Danny Baker's Saturday morning radio show on the BBC, we thought we'd resurrect an old AFTN section from back in the day. So readers, we bring you "MLS Back Catalogue", where we revisit artists' discographies, and writers' bibliographies, re-imagined with the players of Major League Soccer, in a full 'Top of the Pops' style top ten countdown. It's Christmas day, so what better way to kick things off than with our MLS Back Catalogue - The Christmas Songs…. ************************************ (10) I Wish It Could Be Adam Cristman Every Day (9) God Rest Ye Danny Koovermans (8) Deck The Tally Hall (7) Aron Winter Wonderland (6) Jay Nolly And The Ivy (5) Joy Chiumiento The World (4) Silent Wes Knight (3) Hark The Juan Pablo Angel Sing (2) Leonardo Ribeiro Da Silva Bells (1) I Saw Mamdou Danso Kissing Santa Claus Who could come into the chart as new entries? Leave your suggestions below. Merry Christmas to all our readers. Have a good one.